Blogging Can Make a Difference

Working for 5 Minutes for Mom and living in the New York area has given me some fun opportunities this year. I recently wrote on my own blog about getting to stand toe to toe with Kelly Ripa on the red carpet as she cooed and cuddled my son Kyle.

That was cool, but it didn’t change any lives, beyond a (very) cool story to tell and some great pictures. Kyle didn’t care who was cuddling him, and for Kelly Ripa it was just another day in the life of a NYC personality.

For me it was so far outside my everyday experience that it hardly changed who I am.

And now, yet another opportunity has been offered–a chance to use the influence of writing for a popular site like 5 Minutes for Mom to do more than pass on the news about a cool new movie or tell you about a book I’ve enjoyed or a product that I love.

In November, Compassion International is taking another group of bloggers on a vision trip to spread the word about the work of Compassion and the needs of the children in the communities they serve. I truly believe that blogging for Compassion can make a difference.

Did you read the personal accounts of either Shannon (at Rocks in My Dryer) or Sophie (at Boomama) when they went to Uganda earlier this year? They were both an incredible testimony to the power of words and the value of sharing information. By sharing their experiences, they were able to change perspectives for people who haven’t seen poverty like that first hand.

Isn’t that what blogging is all about?

Sophie just reposted one of her reflections from that February trip. Reading it reminded me that this trip to the Dominican Republic is going to be pretty far outside my everyday experience. It’s on the opposite spectrum of working the red carpet.

And yet somehow I think that this is going to change who I am.

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This November I’m going on the 2008 Compassion Blogger trip to the Dominican Republic. Would you like to come? Do you have a blog that gets fairly high traffic so that they can get the word out to the most people in the most cost-efficient way?

Would you like to blog to make a difference in the life of children across the world? Find out all the details HERE.

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Has something you’ve read on a blog made a difference in your life? Or do you blog about a certain topic in order to make a difference?

About Jennifer Donovan

Jennifer Donovan has been a part of the 5 Minutes for Mom team since 2007. She writes product reviews, covers events, and manages the 5 Minutes for Books weekly column and website. She lives in Houston and blogs at Snapshot about life with her family.

Comments

You always have great stories and info on being a Mom. I thought you’d be interested to know that http://www.andycamper.com is now online with tons of fun activities that parents can do with their kids.

I would love to go. I’m a child advocate with CI too and it sure would help me explain the organization to people if I got to see it in action overseas. I have no idea if my traffic is high enough though.

Wow, that’s an amazing idea! We are also involved with Compassion, but an overseas trip is not in the cards for me right now (even if my traffic were high enough).

Lately, I’ve been thinking about blogging, my blog, and why I blog. Partially, I do it for me, because I like to get my thoughts organized and a blog helps me do it. I do it sometimes for family so they can see pictures of my boys. I think the reason that I blog what I do, though, is for support. I hope that by blogging about extended nursing and tandem nursing, subjects and practices where are often a apart of the less popular and even alternative culture, I can let some other mom out there know that she’s not alone, and there are others who believe similarly to her.

I don’t think my blog gets near enough traffic, but how I wish I could go.

I hope my blogging makes a difference. I am part of Inspired to Action (http://inspiredtoaction.com) which is an obvious effort at making a difference but I also hope that my other blogs make a difference, too.

Oh, Jen, that is fantastic! I can’t wait to follow your journey! The trip to Uganda touched my heart in so many ways, and led me to sponsor a child. I’m praying for you now in preparation for your trip!

I’m jealous! 😉 I guess they have to be practical and pick the blogs that get a lot of traffic, but it would be nice in the future if they would pick some smaller bloggers to go. Maybe I have an inferiority complex, but just because we don’t write well/funny enough to have a large readership doesn’t mean we won’t make a difference.

As a mother of daughters adopted from China, I have a great interest in the orphans of the world. This is a wonderful outreach project and a great opportunity for those who can travel with this team. Bless you! I’ve posted about Compassion Bloggers on my blog this morning. Thank you for letting us know all about the Compassion Bloggers.

This trip will certainly change your life, and the lives of so many others! Praise God that you are able to go and be a light to the Dominican Republic.

My husband and I had the opportunity to go to Zambia, Africa with World Vision in 2003. We were able to meet the children we sponsor from the ADP we visited. I didn’t have a blog then, but if I did I would have documented for all of my readers to see. 🙂 If I didn’t have so many little ones now, I would be applying in a heartbeat…

I look forward to the day the Lord opens the door for us to go back (or anywhere in Africa, really)… I’ll be blogging my experiences then, I’m sure!

I believe I am blogging to make a difference.
I am a mother of five, filmmaker, writer and artist. I have made a film in Cuba and we unabashedly showcased the plight of the Cuban people and children. I was pregnant with our fourth child while we were filming.

I believe mothers CAN be powerful women and mothers. I believe we can have it all. So I dedicated a blog about it.

Oh, I wish I could do this so badly! My husband and I had planned a trip to the Dominican Republic about a year ago & we were going to visit one of our Compassion kids there, but the day before we were supposed to leave, I had complications with my pregnancy and we had to cancel our trip! 🙁 Thankfully, everything with our baby was okay and I would love to even go there with him, but since he’ll only be 8 months at that time, I don’t think I could swing it by myself. So, maybe if you meet a little 8 year-old girl named Yasmel while you’re there, you can say hi to her for us. 🙂 I really look forward to hearing all about your trip! And the other great thing is that I don’t need to go in order to start using my blog to be an advocate for needy children! I don’t know why I never thought to do this before, but I think it’s definitely something everyone should consider doing – we all have a voice and we all have an audience where we can make an impact for these precious kids.

I’m hoping to blog about my experience in Peru next summer. There are 600,000 orphans under 18 in the city of Lima, Peru alone! Probably 250,000 of those are elementary school age & under. I’m looking forward to seeing what God will do on this trip. Our church went this summer (I didn’t go) and immediately partnered with a Christian children’s home. We raised over $18,000 for the home this week alone at VBS (keep in mind, my church averages 400 in worship…not a mega-church by any means). That money will fund a new school, and provide for 8 children for 1 year. PRAISE HIS NAME!

It has been many years since I visted the DR, but I have not forgotten what a humbling and rewarding experience it is. The little children we met every day were so filled with love, appreciation, and wonder – it was humbling how they just wanted to be near and how freely their sweet hugs came. Also humbling was their living conditions & how little they had and how we came to understand that however little we once thought we had, it was still so much. Very humbling. The 10 days went by fast, were lots of fun even without perfect conditions, and it was missed as soon as it over.

I can’t wait til hear all about your trip & experiences. 🙂 Have a great time!!